A 24-year-old Pakistani Christian man has been arrested for blasphemy after refusing to allow the police to blackmail him.

Naveed Masih from Sargodha practices exorcism through prayers and has many Muslim followers who visit him with their spiritual problems.

A number of days ago one of hi s followers gifted him an antique sword which was engraved with holy verses from the Quran, packed in a box. Naveed placed the sword in the room where he used to pray.

When some police officers came to know of the gift, they tried to blackmail him by saying that what he was doing was illegal, and that if he did not pay them monthly they would take action against him.

But when Naveed refused to give them money they planned to trap him. They raided his house and recovered the sword before arresting him from blasphemy.